U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) Upgraded at Citizens Jmp

Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on USPH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a research report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, U.S. Physical Therapy presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.00.

U.S. Physical Therapy Price Performance

Shares of U.S. Physical Therapy stock opened at $92.43 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.80. U.S. Physical Therapy has a one year low of $76.18 and a one year high of $113.63.

U.S. Physical Therapy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. U.S. Physical Therapy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 187.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Carey P. Hendrickson sold 516 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.25, for a total transaction of $49,665.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,469 shares in the company, valued at $1,970,141.25. This trade represents a 2.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bernard A. Harris, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.95, for a total transaction of $185,900.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,554,681.70. This represents a 10.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,412 shares of company stock valued at $706,605. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of U.S. Physical Therapy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in U.S. Physical Therapy by 5.1% during the third quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Martin Capital Advisors LLP lifted its holdings in U.S. Physical Therapy by 1.6% in the third quarter. Martin Capital Advisors LLP now owns 13,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in U.S. Physical Therapy in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000.

U.S. Physical Therapy Company Profile

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc operates outpatient physical therapy clinics. The company operates through Physical Therapy Operations and Industrial Injury Prevention Services segments. The company provides pre-and post-operative care and treatment for orthopedic-related disorders, sports-related injuries, preventative care, rehabilitation of injured workers, and neurological-related injuries.